After the worst Christmas Casey has had in years, the urge to go home overwhelms. Standing in front of the house he grew up in on a bleak New Year’s Eve, he acknowledges that what he once thought of as home is gone. Filled with despair, he sees that his life is a barren wasteland and he has no energy or hope left with which to change it.

When a man exits the rundown house, his long legged stride carries ghosts of the past right into Casey’s present. Never had he imagined that he’d run into the man he’d lost a lifetime before or that the man would own the house that had always been a symbol of home to Casey. But Paul is there and he’s never forgotten the love they shared so briefly. Casey’s New Year’s quest to find reasons for his existence becomes a homecoming he never expected when Paul opens his heart. It’s only then that Casey discovers the answers to life are as simple as finding your heart.

Reader Rating:
3.8 (15 Ratings)

Sensuality Rating:

Excerpt:

“I think we need –“

“- a bed,” Paul murmured, finishing Casey’s thought.

Casey smiled. It hadn’t taken long for them to fall back into their old familiar habit of completing each other’s sentences. He remembered how it had freaked out their friends. It had made everyone think they were fated to be together, two halves of a whole. A few people, like Casey’s best friend Kate, still believed they belonged together.

“Casey?”

He blinked, pushing back the memories. “Kate still thinks we belong together,” he blurted out.

An amused smile quirked Paul’s lips. “Kate’s always been a very smart girl.” He pulled Casey against him for a swift, rough kiss. Then he bent and put his shoulder to Casey’s hard stomach, lifting him in a fireman’s carry. He carried Casey toward the bedroom, moving easily despite their combined weight.

Paul laughed. “I’m in much better shape now than I was then. Back then my manly figure was a product of good genes and youth. Now, it’s the product of good genes and damned hard work. I don’t live on burgers and fries anymore. I take care of my body.”

“I noticed.” Casey’s admiring stare was cut short when Paul flipped him onto the mattress.

He bounced a little but then found himself caged by the body they discussed. On hands and knees above Casey, Paul began a campaign of short, fierce kisses between caresses designed to remove clothes. By the time Casey lay on the sheets in nothing but his boxer briefs, his cock throbbed painfully with arousal.

“You have too many clothes on,” Casey gasped as Paul stroked his palms up Casey’s hair roughened thighs, grasped his briefs and pulled them off.

“I kinda like me dressed and you naked. It’s a lot like playing master and slave.” His brown eyes twinkled, their expression devilish.

“For that we’d need a collar and a safe word.”

Casey’s low reply caused Paul to still and his brows rose questioningly. With a sigh Casey nodded. “Yeah, sure,” he admitted, answering Paul’s unspoken question. “I’ve done a lot of kinky things. Doesn’t mean I was into it. I mean, I’m a lousy sub. Too much of a control freak to be able to handle it well.”

Paul’s grin widened and the sheer wickedness of his expression made Casey smile. “I do you and you do me?” Paul asked.

“Something like that.” Casey turned his head and licked Paul’s bicep.
Pure lust rocked his body. He couldn’t believe how awful he’d felt only an hour before and now he thrummed with energy. The pain-ridden man he’d been had fallen away in the face of emotions he hadn’t given free rein to in nearly two decades.

“It occurs to me that I’m really at no advantage by being dressed while you’re naked,” Paul told him. “My dick is so hard it hurts.”

Casey chuckled. “I imagine it would be confined in those tight jeans. Are you commando?”

“What do you think?” Paul waggled his brows suggestively.

Casey slipped his hands into the waistband of Paul’s jeans. “I think you’re about to show me.”

He popped the top button and dragged Paul’s zipper down. His hands parted the denim, pushing it down muscular thighs. Paul’s thick erection sprang free, the uncut flesh as long and thick as Casey remembered it. He sighed.

“You’re still the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. And you’re wearing way too many clothes.”

Reader Reviews (4)

Submitted By: maybedog on Jan 29, 2014

When I read this, I thought it felt odd, like something was wrong and/or missing. Once I found out that it was a het story not even reworked but just pronouns and body parts changed, it made sense. Now I'm not sure it was that great a story to begin with. Casey is pretty pathetic and it was hard to get behind him but it wasn't the worst story I've ever read. It just wasn't up to the other story of hers, Entangled, that I read and really liked.

Submitted By: trix on Jan 20, 2014

Straightforward but sweet.

Submitted By: roula on Jan 9, 2013

a nice free short story

Submitted By: dozyllama on Jan 4, 2012

Too short! I love Lex Valentine, she has a lovely way with words. Yum.